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Prime minister Narendra Modi was seen in Parliament on Wednesday wearing a special light-blue sleeveless ‘sadri’ jacket. The jacket is unique because it is made of recycled material from discarded plastic bottles. It was presented to PM by the Indian Oil Corporation during the inauguration of India Energy Week in Bengaluru. ALSO READ: ‘You will enjoy reading this’: Modi shares Arunachal youth’s ‘day in PMO’
The Jacket donned by PM Modi is made by Ecoline clothing, a brand of Shree Renga Polymers run by IITian K. Sankar and his son Senthil Sankar. Based in Karur, Tamil Nadu, the company recycles PET bottles and upcycles them into value-added products such as garments. Hindustan Times spoke to firm’s managing partner Senthil Sankar.
“IOC was looking for vendors who could convert PET bottles into finished garments. They contacted us because we possessed the necessary manufacturing capabilities and technical expertise. We had given them nine fabric options, from which prime minister chose the blue shade. That is what his team stitched and gave him, which he wore to Parliament yesterday,” says Sankar claiming that they are the only ones in India doing this bottles to garment recycling process. ALSO READ: ‘Those who feared…’: PM Modi’s veiled jibe at Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in J&K
How ‘Modi jacket’ is made?
The jacket worn by Prime Minister Modi is made of 28 Polyethylene Terephthalate, also known as PET bottle. As part of the procedure, bottles are gathered and sorted, and their caps and labels are removed. It is then crushed, cleaned, and recycled in a 10-step process to clean hot wash flakes. These flakes are then used to make polyester fiber. And this fiber becomes yarn. Yarn becomes fabric and fabric becomes garment.
How sustainable is the process of turning PET bottles to garment?
According to Sankar, the energy required for this process is much lower than that required for the conventional route, and CO2 emissions are also zero because there is no burning involved in the process. “We use a methodology called Dope dye technology which imparts dye in the matrix of the fiber as it’s made. So not a single drop of water is utilized for this.” He continues, “It’s the greenest and the most eco-friendly way of dying.” ALSO READ: Sustainable travelling: How to make eco-friendly choices while on the go
On the question of whether he has any requests from the government to help the industry, Sankar says that the expectations of the government have been more than met by the PM’s single gesture. “Prime minister Modi didn’t say a single word about his garment in the Parliament, but just that one act of coming to the Parliament with that coat is more than enough.”